9

I got an e-mail from Microsoft about my Windows 10 reservation.

Windows10 e-mail

It's lacking free-hand circles, but the message is clear. Microsoft states it's the largest software upgrade event ever. Are there any numbers to back-up this claim or to prove it's false?

David Mulder
  • 4,124
  • 2
  • 23
  • 41
Mast
  • 485
  • 6
  • 15
  • 5
    This is going to depend _heavily_ on how you define "biggest." Most people? Most computers? Fastest rate of adoption? Most change in functionality? Most hype? – Will Jul 31 '15 at 18:27
  • 1
    @Will I'm aware their statement is vague. However, I was hoping there would be consensus about what they mean. I am not an industry-speak specialist after all. – Mast Jul 31 '15 at 18:30
  • 3
    Does advertising copy constitute a notable claim? I do find that the question on whether Tetris is the best-selling video game ever made is still here. – GEdgar Jul 31 '15 at 19:59
  • 3
    @nomenagentis That's cannot be what the notability requirement is. There's hundreds of questions on this site that are certainly not believed widely. Who believes it and their number is irrelevant. Who said the claim is relevant. Windows is claiming that their upgrade event is the biggest ever. How can that possibly not be notable? –  Jul 31 '15 at 21:46
  • @fredsbend Nomen agentis is correct: the number of believers it what matters. The source is sometimes used as a proxy, but in this case it's very unlikely that a lot of people believe that. Most people don't even know or care about that. – Sklivvz Aug 01 '15 at 09:27
  • 3
    @Sklivvz Considering your rep on SO I would have expected you to read a lot of tech media as well and this claim has been re-iterated by multiple tech media, so it's definitely a lot more notable than some other claims we got. True, the good media tend to put it between "'s like, but the MS-biased media do not (I saw at least a couple whilst researching my answer). – David Mulder Aug 01 '15 at 14:24
  • @DavidMulder Sorry, if it's notable, then it should be easy to find more examples, and find the correct interpretation of the claim. As it stands it's just a marketing slogan which doesn't mean much. – Sklivvz Aug 01 '15 at 14:26
  • @Sklivvz Here you have the number 1 result on Google www.pcworld.com/article/2955308/windows/you-may-be-waiting-a-few-weeks-for-your-free-windows-10-upgrade-says-microsoft.html found in like 10 seconds... And marketing slogans are often believed by people :S Are you saying that marketing may lie and deceive in any way they want and that it's never something to investigate? – David Mulder Aug 01 '15 at 14:29
  • Do note this was part of an e-mail confirming my reservation. It's not just some advertisement floating around the web. – Mast Aug 01 '15 at 14:31
  • The PC magazine does not make the same claim, it merely reports what the email says. It clearly states "the company email says". – Sklivvz Aug 01 '15 at 14:33
  • 1
    @Sklivvz Let me get this straight: What Microsoft claims to over 100 Million people is not notable, but [a facebook infographic](http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/23358/is-there-a-correlation-between-voting-for-the-democratic-party-and-gun-crimes-in), [a random thought of some user](http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/14349/can-egg-shells-be-digested), and [spam email from mom](http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/295/what-happens-when-you-mix-lysol-and-bleach) *are* notable claims? "Notability" must be a different word in your dictionary. –  Aug 01 '15 at 14:48
  • @fredsbend notability "discussions" are always pointless. Find some other, better, clearer, examples of the claim. After all *you are claiming that 100 million people* potentially believe this. Surely some of them will actually be able to explain what exactly is the "largest ugrade event ever". – Sklivvz Aug 01 '15 at 14:50

0 Answers0